middaeg | [ CATCH-ALL ] we're nocturnal creatures

[ With Iskandar so familiar with the less affluent communities further on the outskirts of Aefenglom, it didn't take long for Waver to hear as well of the search-and-rescue efforts being put together to find the missing Chimera children.

It seems a number of other Mirrorbound have heard the same and offered to help, though Waver's not too shocked by that. This kind of story tends to stir people's hearts and frighten communities; there may even be those after the money and attention. Regardless, right now, the most important thing is to make sure those chimera children return home safely.

On their way out of the city, ready to split up into smaller groups to spread out and search the Wilde beyond the wall, Waver wasn't surprised to run into Saber. One thing led to another, and now they're searching a dense wooded stretch about two miles from the Wall, where the ground is cold and a little icy, but not quite so deep into the Wilde that snow and ice reign. ]

I think I smell something... over this way. There's some sort of rock cluster.

[ He points, tail lashing back and forth anxiously. It's something that still embarrasses him and makes him a bit uncomfortable, but Waver knows when it's time to set that aside and use the newly enhanced senses he'd been given for something important. In this case, a couple of the chimera kids' families had given them articles of clothing for Waver to try to use his Turnskin senses to follow their scents. Unfortunately, it's starting to get cold enough his nose is having trouble. ]

[Iskandar recognizes the we will show them all attitude very well from his own youth but he can't say he actually approves it in this particular situation. Were wild animals and possible death from exposure the only risks the kids were taking, he'd let them test their resolve for a week before organizing rescue mission.
But those are not the only risk. In fact, those are not even the greatest risks. While fending off starvation, cold and predators is always a demanding task; doubly so when you're young and inexperienced. Adding the Shades to the equation makes the chances for survival plummet.

Any tracking spells he knows of are useless without prior contact with the person he looks for so Iskandar is incredibly grateful that Waver has other means of possibly locating the missing kids. They would be going in totally blind otherwise.]

Good. Let's check there.

[He leads their small party, sword in hand, in the direction Waver pointed.]

[ Saber is glad to be with people she already knows for this. Doubly so since it allows her a chance to see Waver and Iskander in action together again. She's met them individually, of course, but this is the first opportunity she has to see them together. Her nose isn't as keen as Waver's, but she's also doing her best, wings stretching slightly behind her as she peers out into the shrouded woodland. ]

It seems logical that they would have tried to take shelter there... it would at least provide protection from the wind, if nothing else.

[ She trails behind Iskander, shading her eyes with her hand. ]

One hopes that they decided to stay in one place instead of wandering deeper...

Yeah... I hope so.

I, er... I don't smell any blood, so...

[ Hopefully, that's a good sign. He moves to follow Iskandar, close at his heels, shoulders tight and ears forward straining to catch any sounds in the eerily quiet forest. Like the subtle rhythm of running footsteps. Maybe a distant growl. Is that what that is?

The cold and the Cwyld impair his senses, making it difficult even for his keen nose to determine direction, but he can definitely smell something else. ]

H-hold on.

[ Waver grabs Iskandar's coat. ]

Did you hear that?

[ He looks back to Saber, ears swiveling to catch the noise again. ]

A Shade...?

[Iskandar stops. He surveys the forest before them but sees no signs of activity. Nothing moves there other than tops of the trees swaying on the wind.]

Hear what?

[He heard nothing. Forest is still and quiet. Too quiet. Only the tree tops swa... How can the treetops move if there is no wind?!]

You're right. Something is there.

[Iskandar raises his sword and runs two fingers down the blade concentrating on runes carved into its surface.]

Καιαι, έμός ξίφος!

[Red flame envelopes the blade and almost immediately as if it was a response to the fire igniting they hear a snarl somewhere from behind the tree line.]

[ Saber pauses and draws Excalibur in one smooth motion, the blade glinting dangerously in the firelight that Iskander ignites from his blade. She can't hear anything herself - her senses aren't as keen - but something's wrong. Something's off. They can all feel it.

The snarl comes and a less stealthy rustle in the bushes and Saber steps forward, blade lowered to present the tip to whatever Shade might be out there. ]

Leave this one to me-

[ Yes, she's going to try and do this on her own. Yes, she's silly sometimes. She takes a few steps forward as a white shape comes out of the treeline toward her, accepting her challenge.

Battle is joined a bare moment later in a flash of steel and claws and limbs. ]

[ Waver steps back quickly when Iskandar draws his blade, releasing his coat and remembering suddenly to draw his own short sword. It's more for show than anything; he'd much prefer not to use it, so he is absolutely okay with letting the two of them step forward.

Saber takes the lead, so he keeps an eye and ear on their surroundings and their back, just in case. There's a high probability the noise and any scent of blood here will draw others if there are more creatures nearby.

In this case, the thing that flies out of the bushes at Saber is... actually not a Shade. It appears to be some sort of large, white bird, screeching loudly and flailing its wings. It doesn't seem corrupted, only extremely pissed off. Other screeches nearby suggest it's not the only one, and if nothing else its talons are no joke. ]

By the darkest depths of Tartarus, what is that?! Some species of man-eating ferocious chickens?!

[He was itching for a fight. Having Saber on his side practically guaranteed it would a good one and that they can take a swing at a lot larger enemies than Iskandar would be solely on his own. No one should blame him he got excited.

And then... a chicken shows up. How disappointing... He lowers his still flaming sword and just stares at the animal with disgust. Hoping it would drop dead under the weight of his disapproval?]

I am not going to waste a good blade on poultry.

[ Saber is a little taken aback. She was expecting a shade, not a living creature. Her own wings flare out wide and she tries to bat the bird away without necessarily killing it at first. She has the flat of her blade for that, although the bird doesn't seem too dissuaded just yet. ]

An enemy is an enemy, but-

[ She has to duck as the bird comes at her head. ]

-maybe we're simply trespassing on their territory - in any case, the children won't be here.

I guess...

[ Waver steps away from the bird, scowling at it in annoyance. He has no interest in getting closer. ]

We can try to push through and go look at the rocks over there? Unless those are the birds' nests... The scent leads that way, though. It could go beyond.

Sorry. I can't tell for sure unless we get closer.

[Iskandar has only to shake his sword to extinguish the flame. He shields the blade and moves closer.]

Well, then they are out of luck. Nest or no nest we're going through if that's where the trail leads.

[He doesn't have to do much more than simply to come closer for the aggressive bird to decide it's seriously outnumbered. Iskandar claps his hands and the noise is the last thing that finally convinces the bird to bolt.

What it leaves behind is indeed a group of three nests hidden behind the stones. Two of them thoroughly plundered. The indentations between small twigs and grass show the places were the eggs have been taken from. There's a single egg left in the last nest. A predator would have eaten the eggs on the spot. To pick clean a place like this, it takes a human.

Iskandar turns to Waver and Saber, his back to the nests and dense bushes that surround them.]

Someone was eggs hunting here. Waver, come closer. I'd hazard a guess it could have been our missing kids.

[If not for the surprise chicken before, he wouldn't have ignored the rustling in the bushes behind him.]

[ Saber follows Iskandar as the bird flees, the tip of her sword turned down. Apparently it wasn't going to be too much of a threat and instead they just had to contend with trying to pick up the trail. She listens with a slight frown. ]

So, the bird didn't drive them away. They drove it away - however temporarily.

[ Or perhaps had come upon it while the mother was elsewhere. She's about to continue when she picks up on that rustle. ]

Iskandar-

Oh. That does make sense... all right.

[ Waver nods, stepping closer when beckoned, and crouching at Iskandar's feet to examine the nest more closely. The scents are all jumbled now, and he's also lowered his guard.

It's a mistake.

This time, the creature that slams apart the foliage is much larger, and far more aggressive. It reeks of infection, practically oozing darkness, skin black and sagging on its bones as though half-rotten, half-mummified, crawling with shadows. Obsidian tusks shine in the dappled light filtering through the forest, and the Shade-boar shrieks, rearing up with its front cloven hooves flailing in the air before it, ready to come down on anything in its path. ]

Rider!

Edited 2020-07-15 07:30 (UTC)

[Iskandar grabs Waver by the collar of his shirt, lifts him to his feet and drags him back behind himself. He draws the sword again. Not enough time for the flames. Barely enough for a barrier before the beast roars and charges.

The barrier springs from the ground cutting the boar's path like a wall of translucent scales. If he had to cast a full spell instead of merely activating a stored one, they would be in real trouble. But Iskandar has the runes painted on his armour that light up under his touch exactly for this kind of situations.]

If I knew we'd be hunting boar, I would have take a spear! Or three!

[The boar slams into shimmering wall with a force that makes the ground tremble. The barrier holds, for now. ]

[ Her sword is out again, her wings spread and she darts forward to join Rider, the point leveled as the infected boar rams itself into the magical barrier with a crash and a flare of light. She tends to agree with Iskandar - if she knew they'd be after boar, she would have a spear. A sword is useful, handy, but for boar you want a spear with a strong cross-bar to prevent it running down the blade or shaft and goring you. ]

Rider. On my signal, drop the barrier - I'll attack it from its flank and try to sever its spine.

[ She's already circling slightly, positioning herself for their next move. ]

Are you prepared?

[ Waver flinches, frozen in place for a horrifying moment-- but Iskandar reacts much faster. The next thing Waver knows, he's being yanked up and shoved away from the beast, staring up at Iskandar's back. And then Saber's.

He understands immediately the smartest and most useful thing he could do at the moment is stay out of their way.

Waver draws his short sword as well as an extra defense while he backs up, but it's a last resort. He has no intention of using it. Instead, he watches the scene and watches their backs, quickly scanning mentally over his small arsenal of stored-up spells in case it comes to that. ]

[Iskandar hates to admit it but of the two of them, it's Saber who has more chance to outmanoeuvre the beast. Her plan is risky but makes sense. Fire would make even more sense as a weapon against the shade but with all the dried grass, leaves and twigs around, he could easily ignite more than he planned to if tried to torch the boar and missed. If Saber managed to immobilise it first, that will be a different story.
He confirms his assent with a small incline of his head.]

On your mark.

[ Saber nods. The boar squeals - a horrible, deadened sound, mutilated and monstrous - and she edges a little more to the side. Then she leaps. ]

Now!

[ Excalibur comes around in a glinting blur as the board doesn't seem to know which way to go.

Maybe this will work. ]

[ The creature shrieks again, tossing its head -- armed with its sharp tusks -- from side to side, trying wildly to defend itself or knock her aside. It's big, all brute force, but not particularly agile.

Waver's more worried about the noise. If the scuffle were to attract other beasts... or scare any children hiding nearby...

There's nothing they can do about that now. ]

[The barrier drops immediately at Saber's command. The beast attempts to defend itself, trying to gore the attacker with its tusks but the blade still reaches it, its hind legs give in and it collapses to the ground. The head is still dangerous though. Iskandar cannot fully appreciate the spectacle, nor worry about what all the ruckus might attract, he has to concentrate on the fire spell. Especially, that he wants to limit its range to one target only. His intention is to burn the boar and nothing else. He just needs a little more time to do it.]

[ Saber's teeth are gritted, her veins alight with the excitement of battle as Excalibur severs its spine. But it still has fight and it turns on her as best it can, tusks flashing in the light. She darts back - not quite quickly enough. There's a lance of pain up one arm and she hisses, lashing out with Excalibur again to try and drive it away; to keep it from coming forward on its front legs. ]

Now, Rider-!

[All infected are drawn to magic so when Iskandar casts his spell the boar's attention shifts to its source. Too late to react though as flames erupt from the very ground it's crawling on engulfing it completely. The beast ignites immediately giving out one last deafening shriek before the fires consume it, leaving behind only a desiccated, charred skeleton that crumbles into fine dust a moment later.

Iskandar sheathes his sword and directs his attention to Saber. It was barely a glimpse and he'd prefer to be wrong but it seemed to him that second strike was less precise than the first one.]

Saber! Did it touch you?

[As long as no blood has been drawn. It still could be fine.]

[ As the boar burns, Waver reels back, covering his face tightly with one arm. The stench is awful. His ears swivel on high alert, straining to hear sound beyond his companions and the crackling sounds of the boar's burning and collapsing now, worried about what the scent and the pillar of smoke might bring now.

It isn't until Iskandar moves toward Saber that he realizes she might be injured. The stink of the infected beast makes it difficult to even smell blood right now.

He darts closer, though he lets Iskandar approach first, lingering anxiously in the background. ]

Are you okay?

[ He really wants to move on from this spot. ]

[ Saber tries not to let the pain get to her. Instead she tries to be satisfied with a job well done. The threat is over. But the pain is there and she has to let her sword drop to grip at her other forearm. There's blood welling up and soaking into the cloth, a gash visible in her shirt. ]

It's a slight wound, I think. Painful, though.

[ She's trying to put on a brave face. It's what she does. ]

[Iskandar shakes his head violently. No wound is small when it comes in contact with the infected.]

You haven't been much outside the city walls, have you?

[He winces. This is bad. They are already too far into the woods to simply abandon the mission and go back. The infection spreads quickly once there's blood involved.]

It will get worse. [He looks around. Not here.] I might be able to do something about it but we need to leave this place. The stench can lure more of its kind here. [No to mention the residue of magic he used.]

Tell me immediately if your wound starts to feel like it was burning.

[He really hopes the kids haven't encountered this beast. But he will worry about them later.]

Quest: Runaways | for iskandar & saber.

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